Should I do Yoga for my pain?

Many of my patients ask me about yoga. Will it help? Is it safe? Yoga can be very relaxing, promoting calmness. A friend of mine teaches a type of yoga called Nidra Yoga, which is very relaxing.

Yoga can also help with building endurance as many yoga positions are help for an extended of time. It can help with balance as some of the positions are single leg balance positions.

tree pose

Yoga instruction for breathing can be very effective for harnassing your breathing system to relax as well as teach your body how to use your deeper core muscles to promote a healthy back.

pigeon pose

Stretching larger joints (which can become very stiff in middle edge) can be very effective with yoga. For example, pigeon pose can stretch the hip flexors of the extended leg and hip rotators of the flexed leg /

I generally tell my patients that yoga can be helpful, as any exercise can be, if started gently range and then made more difficult slowly over time. I highly recommend gentle beginner classes or one on one classes so get your feet wet so you don’t push yourself too hard. Comcast ondemand has yoga classes online, and they offer beginner classes I believe. You can download gentle yoga sequences from youtube. For example: beginner yoga video

Should you do yoga for your pain? The answer is: it depends. Your pain could become worse if, for example, you had an achilles strain and you performed an aggressive downward dog pose, which could strain it.

As always, begin any exercise program gently and slowly and consult an trained instructor when beginning if you need extra support. Listen to your body, and consult with your health care provider about your specific problem.

Call Comstock Physical Therapy to schedule an appointment if you have any questions about your specific medical problem and yoga. If you wish to have one on one yoga sessions with an experience Yoga teacher, (and you are a female) please call Comstock Physical Therapy and schedule with Vicki Muirhead, CYT, who has a private one on one practice. She rents space from our clinic and is highly trained.